Ethiopian PM confident nation meets MDGs

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle .,

September 21, 2010 (ADDIS ABABA) — With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that he is certain his country will achieve them.

Zenawi made the remarks at a panel discussion held on the sidelines of the UN United Nations Summit in New York September 20-22, 2010.

According to the UN website the panel discussion was held in New York on Tuesday between the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stonteltenberg, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and World Bank President, Robert Zoellick on input-output balance among aid donor and recipient countries.

Speaking on the occasion, Zenawi said sub-Sahara African nations could not register economic growth as rapid as that of Asian countries due to a lack of sound policy and strategy, as well as limitations in execution capacity.

At times donor countries failed to extend support in time setting certain preconditions. Donor countries are, therefore, compelled to pursue new strategies to solve their problems, explained Zenawi. He called on donor nations to extend developmental support on a target-oriented basis.

The Premier is confident that Ethiopia will meet the MDGs as the country has been registering double-digit economic growth for the past seven consecutive years.

He urged sub-Saharan African nations to execute their own cost-effective projects rather than waiting for impractical aid pledges.
Administrative procedures could be simplified if aid comes through international institutions rather than on bilateral basis, explained Zenawi.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the number of world nations living under abject poverty has decreased from 52 per cent to 25 per cent. He added that African and Asian countries would have a better opportunity to achieve MDGs in the years to come as the world economy is showing growth.

In September 2000, building upon a decade of major UN conferences and summits, world leaders came together at UN Headquarters in New York to adopt the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets-with a deadline of 2015, known as MDGs.

The eight MDGs, which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and leading development institutions.

(ST)